The digitization of our world has had profound impacts on every industry regardless of its operational model. For private citizens, daily life is now filled with digital norms like internet banking, social media, streamed entertainment, and even health consultations.
One facet that remains somewhat murky though is legal implications. In many cases, the rapid development and uptake of digital technology has happened so quickly that even governments are behind and are now rushing to amend their policies, reform taxes and even place a leash on tech behemoths. For citizens, it’s even more complicated with the adoption of technology and digital platforms of all kinds creating vast shifts in traditional aspects of human life.
Estate Planning and Digitization
One area that can have serious and even irreversible implications is the growing prevalence of digital assets and how this affects all estate planning. While lawmakers are working to catch up, there’s a need to take independent steps to properly manage the range of assets of this kind that nearly everyone has now.
Why is Digital Estate Planning so important?
On a citizen level, every digital service — whether it’s intellectual property, accounts, entertainment and content, and even private files — will have its own unique guidelines for ownership. Managing and planning these properly protects the owner (or ‘user’ as some purchases might not technically result in ownership) while also giving provision for loved ones after a person passes.
Due to the fine print of the tech agreements that most people are presented with when they create their accounts, there’s no guarantee an inheriting family member or loved one can actually access these. Planning accordingly protects everyone, from accessing assets including cryptocurrencies through to managing social media accounts.